Police probe on ‘naked’ statue of Gandhiji finally begins after 6 months of hue and cry

After relentless chasing by the applicant in this matter, the Gandhinagar police on Monday finally initiated inquiries into the installation of a ‘naked’ Mahatma Gandhi statue in Mahatma Mandir museum, which was inaugurated during Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations on January 9 this year. The day is celebrated to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India and to commemorate the day of Bapu’s return to India in 1915.

The FIR applicant, Roshan Shah had alleged that the ‘obscene statue was put up with malafide intent to bring discredit to the Father of the Nation.’ Shah told Jantakareporter.com that he had filed numerous complaints in this matter over the last six months, but no action was taken till the formal launch of an inquiry by police on Tuesday. However, Shah says that no FIR has been registered in this matter yet.

“Being an Indian first and Vaishnav myself, my sentiments are very much hurt seeing a world renowned vaishnav and public figure statue being displayed in such an obscene pose. The statue is in Mahatma Mandir and showing salt satyagraha which also directly targets our Father of Nation,” Shah wrote in his complaint to police.

“These are preliminary enquiries after which we will see if there are merits in the case, filed by Roshan Shah, for an FIR,” sub-inspector of Ahmedabad’s Sector-7 police station Mehul Chauhan said.

The alleged ‘naked’ Gandhi statue captures a moment from the freedom fighter’s historic Dandi March in 1930, showing Gandhiji bending to pick up some salt and break the unfair ‘salt tax’ law.

In his concerns, Shah raised that when images of the ‘naked’ Gandhi statue were published in a local newspaper on January 9, many ladies in the area had also talked about the wrongdoing of the administration in this part. Shah added that the pictures confirmed that the statue was ‘obscene’.

In an exclusive interview to Jantakareporter.com, Shah said that the state government was deliberately trying to disrespect Bapuji and that they had been trying to encroach the land of Gandhi Ashram for their own use. Despite the Gujarat High Court’s directive in the Gandhi Ashram matter, Shah alleged that the Anandiben Patel-led government was not taking any action. There are reports of many NGOs still being run from the ashram premises.

Gandhiji always believed in wearing the barest minimum of clothes when during the British rule, millions of Indians did not even have enough resources to buy necessary clothing.